Entdecke DE: Germany’s tropical greenhouses

The Entdecke DE series takes you on a tour through Germany. This time we visit botanical gardens and tropical greenhouses.

04.04.2016

dpa/Arco Images/O. Protze - Tropical Greenhouses

Botanical Gardens Munich-Nymphenburg

Covering an area of roughly 21 hectares, this park is one of the world’s most important botanical gardens. Over 350,000 visitors a year enjoy the 16,000 plant species that are cultivated here. The different greenhouses enable you to undertake a journey through the Earth’s different climate zones. Other highlights include the building for water plants with its tropical butterflies and the Victoria House with tropical water lilies.

Botanical Gardens Berlin-Dahlem

“The world in one garden” was the slogan proclaimed in 1889 by Adolf Engler, the first director of the Botanical Gardens in Dahlem. This motto still applies today not only with regard to the wide range of tropical and subtropical plants, but also in relation to the 500,000 visitors who come here from all over the world. The 14 greenhouses can all be visited on a relaxing walking tour.

Palmengarten Frankfurt am Main

Gigantic palm trees, enormous shrubs, lush ferns and an impressive waterfall make a strong impression on visitors to the Palm House in Frankfurt’s Palmengarten, a botanical garden and park. The building’s free-standing steel and glass structure was built in 1869 and is one of the large of its kind in Europe today. A very special contemporary witness is a Chinese palm tree (Trachycarpus) that was planted when the garden was founded.

Palm House at Pillnitz Castle Park

“Something is always blossoming,” says Wolfgang Friebel, master gardener at Pillnitz Castle, to which the Palm House belongs. Palm trees, orchids, even an over 230-year-old camellia, 400 potted plants and precious old trees make this a veritable paradise for botanists. The impressive greenhouse re-opened its doors in 2009 and now displays plants from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand on an area of 660 square metres.

Planten un Blomen in Hamburg

The greenhouses in the heart of the city were built in 1963 for an international horticultural exhibition. Today, plants from all the Earth’s climate zones – from jungle to desert – grow here on an area of 2,800 square metres. A pharmacist’s garden, rose garden and Japanese landscaped garden invite visitors to take a stroll.

Germany is a highly diverse country in which it is pleasant to live. Exciting cities and a variety of countryside as different as the North Sea coast and the Alps never cease to fascinate its many visitors.